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Essential for my cats

I enjoy buying weird and wonderful things for my 2 cats and on seeing the 'Cat Mate Pet Fountain' knew this was one thing I needed to purchase.

Rossi is a scaredy cat - he is frightened of everything. Or at least I thought so until I spotted his obsession with sitting in the bath and watching the shower drip. His sister Lola as a kitten was constantly found in the bathroom sink drinking from the tap.

With that in mind I realised a water fountain of some sort was going to be something they both enjoyed. I had a quick read and decided the 'Cat Mate Pet Fountain' was the one for my pair.

Knowing that Rossi is scared of his shadow I wasn't completely sure how much he'd like it but on reading other reviews that this one was quiet I thought it would do the job.

I purchased this from Pets At Home - it's £30 (although I had a discount code). It can also be found on Amazon for £22.

~My First Experince~

On opening the box I was faced with 2 white plastic parts (bowl & fountain), the pump, plug and filter. To assemble you insert the cartridge into the back part of the bowl, connect the fountain piece to the bowl, fill with water and plug in.

The fountain has 2 indicator lines in the bowl part - maximum and minimum - so it is clear how much water is needed in the bowl. The other thing to note when putting together is the speed dial on the pump - this just controls the flow of water in the fountain.

Once plugged in the pump gets to work and for the first few seconds there is a noise while the water gets going. Once the water starts flowing there is no noise whatsoever! Perfect.

~Rossi & Lola's Experience~

Lola was at the fountain straight away - had a little sniff, stuck in a paw and had a little drink - great! Rossi took one look and darted the other way - it was just too much for him.

The fountain was placed next to their food bowls and one thing Rossi does like is food - so he quickly got use to it being there and I caught him having a quick drink from the top part. The funny thing is he doesn't like being watched drinking from it - the times I do see him drinking from it he sees me and runs off like he has done something wrong.

Lola no longer drinks from the sink and Rossi spends a lot less time in the bath - so a great success!

~My Ongoing Experience~

I have had the fountain now since April - so just 6 months. In that time I have changed the filter once and am looking to do so again soon. The new filters can be bought on Amazon at 2 for £5 - lasting a few months at a time it's not a big cost.

The whole thing holds 2 litres of water and hardly ever falls below the minimum line before it needs a clean. I change the water a couple of times a week. The bowl can get a bit grimy but it's as easy to take apart and clean as it was to put together. It is also dishwasher safe - added bonus.

The actual fountain has been fab - the cats really do enjoy using it. I've played around with the speed setting but have found they both like it fast flowing, so that's what I have left it on.

~Last Notes~

The fountain is perfect for my 2 cats. It is big enough to allow both of them to have a drink and the design gives plenty of different places to drink from. I always leave this on and find that because of the running water my cats drink much more now than ever before.

The 'Cat Mate Pet Fountain' also comes with a 3 year guarantee with the motor covered by 1 year. For around the £20 mark that is pretty good going.

I would honestly recommend this product to anyone that has cats. 5stars.

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A fantastic fountain for your feline friends

My Mum bought this for our two cats at her house after I bought a different branded water fountain for my kitten. Our cats there are both 15 now and Thomas is in the late stages of cancer and kidney failure is also beginning but currently he is comfortable but any change and we will need to reconsider what is best for him :o( he has been quite a big drinker for the past few years now and although my mum had a bowl upstairs for them which he used regularly she thought he might enjoy the running water which is kept cooler by a special fountain. She bought this from our local pet store for £32 but it is available on Amazon for around £20 and Zooplus was I think around £24 so it is worth shopping around but my mum decided she wanted one there and then rather than waiting a few days so she didn't mind paying a little extra!

The fountain is exactly as can be seen in the picture. It is white in colour and comes in a box which is approximately 30cm square with the product being just a tiny bit smaller. It needs to be plugged in but has a generous cable length of around 2m. The water fountain weighs about 1kg when empty.

The cat fountain is definitely one of the better models on the market in my opinion, especially as Amazon offer it for such a low price. The reason I think it is one of the leaders in this particular field is because it offers numerous drinking levels - this allows both your pet to decide which to drink out of whether it be the small pool at the top, the slightly larger pool just beneath it or the large, still pool at the bottom.

The fountain was extremely easy to set up, it was a case of clipping a few bits together, filling with water and plugging it in. My mum is a very light sleeper so she was a bit concerned about how much noise it would make as she intended to put it on the landing as that is the boys favourite chill out place! However, she has had no problems with this and it is very quiet. However, mine that I have here is ever so slightly quieter (catit fresh, please see review) so if you intend on putting it in your bedroom then this might be a better option. The fact that the cat mate fountain has water running into numerous pools at different levels does increase the noise level a little.

Initially Tigger was scared of the fountain (hes a huge great Persian with the grumpiest face you ever did see but such a wimp!) but Thomas was very keen to try it out. Thomas is the big drinker in the house so that was enough to please my mum and the rest of us because we were keen to make Thomas a bit more comfortable and content wherever possible. For the first few nights Thomas actually gave up his usual sleeping place on the landing next to his water bowl to sleep next to the fountain and to ensure Tigger could not get any!

However, a couple of days after introducing this Tigger too was happy using the fountain. They do like the fact that there are different levels because it means they can either both drink at the same time or they can drink out of either shallow water or deeper water. Most importantly though Thomas is quite stiff now so if he is having a particularly sore day he can choose which level is most comfortable for him.

Both cats have definitely enjoyed having this fountain. I believe it has totally paid for itself and they both love drinking from it. We are all a bit calmer knowing Thomas is taking in water that is filtered, clean, cool and tasty which will help his comfort. It is also nice to see Tigger drink from it as it has definitely increased his water intake which can only be a positive. Tigger isn't actually ours, he moved in last October and never left after finding Thomas his long lost brother who was actually born in the same litter! But Tigger is definitely one of the family now and we all love him to pieces so we are very happy knowing he is drinking more.

There is one tiny negative I have with this fountain and that is that the water in the bottom pool is still. Therefore, throughout the day bits of dust and fur etc can settle in the water. This is not a problem in my fountain because all of the water is flowing however my mum does change the water every day in hers so its really not too much of an issue.

Changing the water is very simple, you simply empty the old water out and refill. This takes mum literally 1 or 2 minutes every morning so it really isn't too much hassle.

The filters will need replacing every 4-8 weeks to ensure that the water remains filtered and clean. A two pack of the filters can be easily found online for around £6 which I think is a reasonable price.

The fountain remains on for 24 hours a day barring only the few minutes it takes my mum to change the water each morning. Thomas and Tigger really like the fountain and every time I go over you can be quite certain that you will find them both near the fountain, Thomas usually right by it which is nice as it means they are both easy to locate and say hello to! The fountains plug does get warm but not so warm it causes concern and there have never been any accidents with the fountain whether it be the boys knocking it or it leaking.

Cat fountains are a great idea as it is a well known issue that many cats do not get the right amount of fluids. This particular model is sturdy, reliable and is perfect for multi-pet households. It runs quietly and looks ok - their could be more colour options or a slightly rounder design in my opinion to make it look a bit more desirable but at the end of the day you aren't buying it as a fashion statement and it does the job it is designed to do perfectly.

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I just wish I had got one years ago!

If you had of asked me this time last year if I had any interest in buying an indoor water fountain for my cat, I would have said 'NO' quickly and without any hesitation. This would have been because my cat (Arnold) always drank lots of water from his simple plastic water bowl, and so why bother paying through the nose for an expensive gimmick that he would probably never use anyway, and when he was perfectly happy with what he already had. However this all changed when we moved house last spring, and now if asked the same question I would answer with a resounding 'YES'!!

Arnold has always been a fussy eater, and since we first had him at 8 weeks old has only ever eaten dry food (in the form of Go Cat dry munchies). As he has a dry food diet, he has always drank a lot of water, and would often need his water bowl re-filling at least once each day.

For a reason that is still a total mystery to me, within a few few days of moving to our new house back in March this year, Arnold refused to drink out of his bowl anymore - well any bowl, saucer or plate for that matter, unless he was really desperate! Instead he would jump up onto the kitchen counter and lick at the tap, in an (often successful) attempt to get a few drops to drip out of it and into his mouth. He then started to repeat this in the bathroom sinks! At first I used to shout at him to 'get down', but other than that I didn't think too much about this, but as a week or so passed by, and he continued with this habit, (often in front of visitors!) I knew I had to do something.

Having been reading and rating reviews for a good number of years now, I had stumbled across water fountains for cats, and had read some good reports about them, and so I started to do even more reading to try and find out which would be my best bet to get Arnold drinking lots of water again - but not from licking all of our taps!!

There were (and still are) a good few different models out there to choose from, but the main things I was looking for was a fountain that wasn't too expensive, because I thought there was a realistic chance that he wouldn't be interested in it, and something that was not noisy, as Arnold can be quite a timid cat.

So it was, last April, after reading lots and lots of reviews that I opted for the 'Cat Mate Pet Fountain' which I got from Amazon for £20.

***** My opinion on the Cat Mate Pet Fountain *****

My parcel arrived safely packaged as promised, and within a few days of ordering it.Inside the box there was a bright white plastic bowl, a bright white plastic fountain arrangement, a pump, a transformer plug socket and a filter cartridge.Assembly was very simple and takes a maximum of 2 minutes to simply insert the filter cartridge, connect the pump to the transformer, slot the plastic bowl into the fountain arrangement, fill up with water, and plug in.

For the first 5-10 seconds of the motor and pump firing up there was just a little noise as the water gradually finds its way around the pump mechanisms, after which the noise instantly dies away, and there is only a very soft and calming sound of running water. I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I had expected it to be noisier!

Basically the pump is situated at the base of the bowl, under the fountain arrangement and sucks in water which it pumps up to the top of the fountain arrangement. From there the water collects in a small pool, before flowing to the middle pool, collecting in another small pool, and then flowing back to the bottom, where it passes through a filter and then repeats the procedure.

Next Step - Introduce Arnold!!

As I let Arnold into the room, he instantly recognised that something was different as his ears pricked up and he stopped in his step. Once he realised what it was he couched down low, and made his way towards it slowly. As he reached the fountain he started to tap his paw against the water flowing from the middle section down into the lower bowl, and then realising it was water he began to drink from it, whilst occasionally looking back at me to check he was not in trouble for doing so.Arnold must then have spent the next 20 minutes or so drinking from various places from the fountain, before I decided to remove him from the room, as I had read that some cats like these things so much that they over drink at first and end up being sick.

Almost six months on from then Arnold has continually drank from the fountain, his old water bowl is still there on the floor for him, but I have never seen him go near it, and he stopped drinking from the taps the day that the fountain arrived! I had my doubts that he would continue to use it, as everyone who has owned a cat knows that they tend to have their fads with things like this, and soon get bored, but he still loves it.I have to say that I have been absolutely thrilled by the results from this Pet Mate Fountain, and it is without a doubt the best thing that I have ever brought for Arnold.

***** A bit more detail *****

This fabulous water fountain is designed to be used by both cats and small dogs and holds a maximum capacity of 2 litres of water. The bowl at the bottom has 2 very clear markings etched into it stating 'minimum' and 'maximum' which indicate the levels at which the bowl should be filled to in order to operate well. If the water level is over the maximum, then there is a danger of water spilling out of the bowl and onto the floor, and if the level falls below minimum then this can damage the pump motor. I must admit that our bowl has accidentally fallen below minimum several times, but no obvious damage has occurred to date.

The design is superb, as it sits very steadily on the floor, supported by numerous plastic supports underneath, and the water movement and flow offers Arnold over 6 different drinking locations depending upon how he feels, all of which he regularly uses. It would certainly be perfectly adequate for 2 or maybe even 3 cats to comfortably drink from at the same time if required in my opinion.

Over the period of a few days the bright white plastic bowl at the bottom will begin to turn a pale green colour in a few places (especially in the hot summer months), and small pieces of food, dust, hair etc can begin to collect in the water. Cleaning is simple enough though, just a case of dismantling it by reversing the procedure I mentioned earlier in the review, washing out the two large plastic sections, and the filter cartridge, before putting it back together, and re-filling with clean water. I tend to do this about once or twice a week, and it literally takes about 1 minute to do. The plastic sections are dishwasher proof too although I prefer to wash them by hand.

The filter cartridges can be replaced as and when needed (although I still have the original one in at the moment, but it is starting to show signs that it may need replacing soon), and these can be purchased from Amazon for £5 for 2 cartridges.

Depending on your cat's (or dog's) preference there is also a setting on the pump that is a simple dial that can be altered to increase or decrease the flow of the water from the fountain. I have always had mine set at the mid point and Arnold has always been more than happy with this, but there is quite a range of different flow speeds that can be achieved by altering the dial, although as you might expect the higher the speed the slightly louder the pump sounds.

***** In Conclusion *****

As I'm sure you have concluded from my review by now, I am very impressed with this Cat Mate Pet Fountain.It may sound like a lot of money for what is effectively a water bowl, but for me it is worth every penny and more! Anything that helps a cat or dog drink more water can only be a good thing, and this little fountain helps to attract the little guys and gals to the thing they are most fascinated and intrigued in regarding water - running / moving water!! The pump and filter also have a cooling effect on the water, which is great in the summer, and also the pump helps to naturally oxygenate the water.

Due to fact that my wife is a bit paranoid about leaving things switched on in the house when we are not there, I only ever turn the fountain on when we are at home. This has never stopped Arnold from drinking out of the lower bowl though, which then acts as a basic (but large) still water bowl, however he clearly prefers it when it is switched on.

A final thing worth mentioning is that the Cat Mate fountain comes with a 3 year guarantee for piece of mind. The small print of this guarantee states that the motor has just a 1 year guarantee, and as is usual these guarantees are at the manufacturers discretion, and exclude misuse and general wear and tear.

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A fantastic water fountain for our little Princess.

It's fair to say that our cat is something of a pampered princess these days. Whether it's toys, games, beds or food related products I seem to find myself constantly drawn in to buying something new. When placing an order for my husbands birthday I decided to add one of these water fountains and I paid around £24 for mine, from Amazon, including next day delivery. This was part of a bulk order that I placed so the postage placed against this item was just £0.81 but it would obviously be more if you were ordering it separately.

This item come provided in a cardboard box and it took just a moment to put together the two large pieces and connect the power supply together and plug it in. Fortunately the place where we wanted the fountain to go has a plug socket very close by so it was ideal, however, if you wanted this somewhere else I'm sure you'll find that the flex on this plug is quite reasonable. There is minimal packaging with this, just enough to protect from scratches, and it did come with some instructions. We didn't actually bother reading the instructions before we set this up and it was incredibly easy and worked first time.

Before actually using this product I gave it a quick rinse with some warm water (with nothing in it) and then after a quick wipe with some kitchen towel it was ready for filling. There is an indicator on the side that shows you the levels of minimum and maximum water advised for successful use. It's important to ensure that this is filled when the fountain is not working as otherwise you may overfill this and when the water stops being circulated it may overflow and flood your floor. It's very simple to fill this up and you can either just do it straight from the tap or use a jug, as we initially did. We now just fill this up under the tap for ease and it only needs topping up every few days. This holds up to 2 litres which is fantastic and will obviously keep your cat going for quite a few days, however, ours never runs dry as we always change it before it starts running low just because it's nice to have clean water isn't it!

The fountain works very well, the power supply is in two pieces, one which is connected to one of the pieces of the fountain, this has a box which you then connect the second lead (with the attached plug on the end). Once you've connected these two supply pieces and the two fountain pieces together you just need to plug in to a socket and it begins to work instantly. It takes just a few seconds for water to be drawn out of the bottom and up through the left hand side of the fountain. The fountain has three separate levels; one circle level which draws up the water, overflows on the right hand side in to one rectangle style piece with a circular edge, the water then comes down the front of this creating a small water fountain. This water then ends up in the large bottom of the fountain which has a rounded front. The fountain works very well, the water is kept flowing round constantly, it's clean, cool and most importantly of all even being left on 24 hours a day it's not stopped working or let us down once.

This fountain uses a filter to ensure that the water is kept clean and free of dirt and hair. This is particularly important to us as we didn't want to have to change the water every single day, this is mainly due to being passing ships in the night at times and occasionally forgetting (whoops!). The filter works very well, it does help to keep the water nice and clean and our cat thoroughly enjoys this fountain. It's very simple to change the filter, just take apart the two pieces of the fountain and remove the filter, the filters just slide in and out. We have been replacing our filters every 6-8 weeks at the moment, obviously how often the filters will need changing will depend on how dirty the water you use is, the hardness of your water and just what your cat does with the water. Our cat seems to love actually using the water to dip her paws in to and then wash her legs and more difficult to reach places. This is quite a sight to see, quite funny even, but it means that the water becomes a little more dirty with our cat constantly dipping her dirty feet in to it. On occasion I have changed the water only to see some hairs in it about five minutes later.

The main reason for this purchase was to encourage our cat to drink more water. I must say that this has been very successful, we turned it on and despite the enclosed booklet (the part that I saw!) saying our cat may take a few days to adjust she was drinking from it as soon as it begun trickling down the water fountain. On occasion we may turn this fountain off and she will still drink out of it but will hover nearby waiting to see if the fountain is going to begin soon. Our cat seems to enjoy going from the top and working her way down with her favourite place being the drop from the second to bottom level which has a nice waterfall. It's fair to say that our cat is definitely drinking more water, I can't say for sure how much but I would think that she's almost doubled her intake. When our cat goes to this fountain she seems to drink for a few minutes then dip her paws in to the bottom level. This ritual usually happens a few times a day, at least, and she seems to be sitting by her water fountain when we return from going out.

Overall I am very pleased with this fountain, we both find it very easy to keep it clean and top up/change the water when needed. I like the ideal of the power supply coming apart as this feels like a decent safety feature and is surely designed to stop the plug socket from getting wet and leave a potential for electrocution. Even if our cat splashes water around the fountain and on the floor we've had no problem at all and the wire has a long enough flex that it doesn't have to sit right next to a plug socket to be used as intended. Our cat thoroughly loves this fountain and this is her sole supply of water throughout the day when she's in our home alone, however, we do have a water bowl for her in the hall and this is mainly because she is locked out of the living room/kitchen at night as she seems to be so much more naughty than when she's left there alone in the day. If you are looking for a product to try and tempt your cat in to drinking more water then this is definitely worth checking out. I must say that being white plastic this is a relatively inoffensive product and looks quite nice on my cats mat and next to my white skirting boards.

The price we paid, around £24.00, is very reasonable for something that appears to be long lasting. The filters seem to be around £6-£7 online, for two, including postage. This is also very reasonable for something that ensures your cat has clean, fresh and inviting water.

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Luckily 3 out of my 3 cats give this a paws up!

I had been considering one of these fountains for a while as a friend of ours had one and said that her cats seemed to really enjoy using it. At the time our cats were on dry food and, although they did seem to be drinking plenty, I was keen to encourage them to drink further. I only wish I hadn't deliberated the purchase as unfortunately one of our cats developed a urinary tract infection which made him very poorly indeed. As well as obviously ensuring he had the vet's prescribed food and antibiotics, we also rushed out to invest in this fountain, wanting to do everything possible to stop the illness recurring. (Luckily after a scary few days he has since made a full recovery).

As we were in a rush we bought ours for £27.99 from Just for Pets, I did find them slightly cheaper at around £24 online but once you have added p&p there isn't a great deal of difference in the price.

The fountain is on three levels; a pump draws water from the main pool at the bottom up to the highest point into another small pool, which in turn overflows into another small pool slightly lower down. Water then runs down a grooved slope back into the bottom pool. I like this feature as it adds interest for the cats and have found that ours do like watching the motion of the water.

The unit comes in two main pieces (plus power supply). The top section pops off to reveal the filter and allow for cleaning inside. I have found that the unit stays surprisingly clean and only needs a quick wipe over from time to time. I have never used any cleaning products on it but you could use washing up liquid if needed as long as you rinsed it thoroughly, obviously I would not use any other cleaning product in case it contaminated the water.

Another feature that makes it much easier to clean is that the power cable has a pull-apart connection about 15 inches away from the unit, so you can detach it from the plug and cable to carry it to the sink. At first I found it odd that you couldn't just unplug the power cable from the back of the unit but would assume this is a safety feature, as there is a chance that water could then get into the socket. Much safer to have the connection sealed and encased with the plastic body of the unit.

Replacement filters are available for roughly £5 for a pack of three. I must confess I have thrown away the instructions that came with the product and can't remember how often you are supposed to change the filter but I have had mine around 6 weeks now and have noticed it has started to discolour so will need to change it soon.

The thing that surprised me most about this fountain was how quiet it is, we have it running constantly in our lounge and, although it is just about audible, I can't say I have ever been conscious of it. I was concerned that two of our cats wouldn't use it due to the noise (the third is deaf) but I needn't have worried about this at all.

Finally the big question, do the cats use it? The youngest took to it straight away and drinks from it all the time. The middle cat (who we bought it for) was fascinated by it for a few days but didn't actually drink from it at first, however now he also uses it. My eldest cat is scared of his own shadow and steered well clear at first but I have even caught him using it, though he will only do so when he thinks no-one else is watching him!

Overall this item was a necessary expense for me, I cannot of course claim that this fountain alone would have prevented my cats illness and have since put him back on wet food as well, but as any pet owners knows money is no object when one of your animals is suffering. I only wish I had bought it sooner.